Electric-arc lamp.



" 'PA'TEN'TED NOV. s, 1903.

H. BREMER.

ELECTRIC ARC LAMP.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 2, 1902.

K0 MODEL.

min eJ'J es:

Tatented November 3, 1903 PATENT OEEIoE;

HUGO BREMER, OF NEHEIM, GERMANY.

ELECTRIC-ARC LAM P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 743,241, dated November3, 1903.

Application filed August 2,1902. Serial No. 118,064. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HUGO BREMER, a subject of His Majesty the Emperor ofGermany, residing at Neheim-on-theRuhr, in the Province of Westphalia,Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inElectric-Arc Lamps, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the present invention is to secure a quick and reliableignition of the are in lamps wherein a striker is used for establishingthe arc in the first instance and for restablishing it after the arc isextingnished.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention,Figure 1 is adiagram matic view of a lamp of this class, showing the strikerdisplaced from its normal position. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of thestriker, and Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are details illustrating progressivesteps in the establishment of the are.

Referring to the drawings, 1 and 2 are respectively the positive andnegative electrodes of the lamp, the same being contained inconducting-tubes 3 and 4 and being adapted to be fed through the saidtubes by mechanism. (Not shown.) The striker is shown at 5, beingpivoted at 6 and acted upon bya magnet 7, included in a shunt-circuit 8between the positive and negative binding-posts 9 and 10.

In series with the electrodes is an electromagnet 11, having an armature12, pivoted at 13. This armature is under the influence of a spring 14,tending to draw it away from the pole of the magnet 11 and into contactwith a point 15, which is connected by a wire 16 with the shank or pivotof the striker 5.

As shown in Fig. 2, the striker is formed into a yoke at its lower end,one arm, 17, thereof being conductively connected with the shank 5 andthe other arm, 18, being insulated therefrom, as shown at 19. Thisstriker is normally retracted by a spring 20, so as to withdraw thepoints of the striker-arms from the range of the lower points of theelectrodes.

In Fig. 1 the striker is illustrated in a displaced position, the normalposition being at right angles to that therein shown, so that the arm 17may pass under and make contact with the point of the electrode 2, whilethe arm 18 may perform the same operations with respect to the point ofthe electrode 1.

hVhen the lamp is in operation, the main circuit passes from thepositive binding-post 9, through the magnet 11 to the electrode 1,thence to the electrode 2 and the bindingpost 10. While the lamp is inthis condition, the magnet 11 is energized and the armature 12 is heldso as to break contact with the point 15. If, however, the arc should beextinguished and the main circuit thus broken, the magnet 11 becomesdenergized and the armature 12, under the influence of the spring 14,drops so as to make contact with the point 1 5,whereupon a circuit isestablished from the binding-post 9 to the pivot 13, thence through thearmature to the point 15, thence by way of the wire 16, the shank 5, tothe arm 17. Beyond this point the circuit can go no farther until thestriker is drawn forward, which action takes place through the operationof the magnet 7in shunt to the electrodes. When the striker has beendrawn forward far enough to bring the ends thereof under the respectiveelectrode-points, the described circuit through the striker is continuedby way of the arm 17 and the electrode 2, passing out at thebinding-post 10. The shunt-circuit is now out out and the striker isreleased into the power of the spring 20, which immediately withdrawsit. At this point in the operation the are which begins to be formed isaffected by a blow-magnet 21, which is so located as to turn the are asindicated in the later figures of the drawings. This blow-magnet may beconnected np in a shunt to the electrodes or be arranged in any of theways made known by myprevious patents and applications.

The diagrammatic views, Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6, show what takes place atthe arc during the withdrawal or retrogression of the striker. At first,as shown in Fig. 3, an arc is formed between the point of the electrode2 and the arm 17, with a tendency to are over in the direction of thearm 18, such tendency being induced by the action of the blow-magnet 21.This tendency is continued on a further withdrawal of the striker-arms,as shown in Fig. 4, while a still further withdrawal results in an aresuch as illustrated in Fig. 5, wherein it appears that the arc is so farthrown over toward the arm 18 as to nearly touch the point of theelectrode 1. At or before the time when the striker is completelyrestored to its original position the current traversing the are forms apath of less resistance through the electrode-points than between theelectrode 2 and the striker, whereupon the are suddenly forms itselfinto the shape illustrated in Figs. 1 and 6-that is to say, the normalarcis established between the electrode-points and the lamp is again infulloperation. The steps thus described follow one another in very rapidsuccession, so that the arc is completely reestablished practicallyinstantaneously, and no serious disturbance takes place either in thelamp itself or in the circuit in which it is included.

Manifestly the striker may, if preferred, be provided with a single armmaking contact with both electrodes, in which case the diagram appearingin Fig. 1 might represent approximately the true position of the strikerwith relation to the electrodes, although the striker maybe arranged sothat its throw will be transverse to a line connecting theelectrode-points, whether the end of the striker is yoked or solid. Itis, however, generally more advantageous to make the free end of thestriker in the form of a yoke, and in order to prevent a shortcircuitthrough the yoke it is also best to insulate one arm of the yokefrom the other. Moreover, the yoke form described interferes less withthe active radiation of light from the are even before the are betweenthe electrode-points is fully reestablished, and for that reason theyokcis a desirable feature. \Vhat I mean is that the incipientarcrepresented in Fig. 3 and the increased are shown in Figs. 4 and 5 willthemselves be luminous, and when a striker is used having a yoke at itsfree end this luminosity may shine through and cause less apparentdisturbance of the light through the act of reestablishing the are.

I claim as my invention- 1. In an electric-arc lamp wherein a striker isemployed for striking an arc between the electrodes, means for giving tothe striker the same polarity with one of the electrodes whenever thearc is extinguished.

2. In an electric-arc lamp wherein a striker is employed for kindlingthe are between the lamp-electrodes,means forgivingtothestriker wheneverthe arc is extinguished the same polarity with one of the electrodes andmeans for causing the striker to approach and make contact with theother electrode.

3. In an electric-arc lamp, the combination with a pair of electrodes,of a striker having arms insulated from each other and adapted to makecontact with the several electrodes, one of these arms being of oppositepolarity to the electrode with which it makes contact.

4:. In an electric-arc lamp, the combination with a pair of electrodes,of a striker having arms insulated from each other and adapted to makecontact with the several electrodes, one of these arms being of oppositepolarity to the electrode with which it makes contact, and means forwithdrawing the striker as soon as current begins to flow between thesaid striker-arm and the electrode.

5. In an electric-arc lamp, an electromagnet in series therewith, astriker for kindling the are between the points of the electrodes, aswitch controlled by the said magnetaud a circuit connected with thestrikerand adapted to be held open by the action of the magnet on theswitch while the arc is burning and to be closed by the deenergizing ofthe said magnet when the arc is extinguished, means for causing thestriker to make contact with the electrode having a polarity opposite toits own when the striker-circuit is closed and means for withdrawing thestriker when the circuit is established between itself and theelectrode.

Signed at Dusseldorf, Germany, this 17th day of July, A. D. 1902.

HUGO BREMER.

Witnesses:

WM. EssENWEIN, O. FRANOKE.

